Turkish Cypriot consent 'must' for UN peacekeeping activities: Senior official

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) – The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) must carry out its activities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with the consent of Turkish Cypriots, a government official said on Thursday.

Speaking to public broadcaster Bayrak Radio Television, Ergun Olgun, the Turkish Cypriot president’s special representative, said the UN “has to keep an equal distance to both sides” if it wants to help establishment of peace and stability on the Cyprus island.

"No matter where it carries out its activities, UNFICYP has to get the consent of the parties in that region as per its own rules. This is not a demand, it is a right. We want that right to be fulfilled," Olgun urged.

He said both the Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry and the presidency, and Türkiye “are showing a common will towards the finalization of this issue.”

In July, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu said UNFICYP must get the approval of Turkish Cypriot people if it is going to serve on the soil of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The UN Security Council on July 28 unanimously adopted a resolution that renewed the mandate of the UNFICYP on the island for another six months.

- Decades-long dispute

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara